The present invention relates to a heat exchanging apparatus and to a method for its production. Heat exchanging apparatuses are long known from the prior art, in particular in the field of motor vehicles. Said apparatuses have, in a known way, supply lines for a refrigerant, a distributing tube for distributing the refrigerant to a plurality of flat tubes, a collecting tube for collecting the refrigerant after it passes through the flat tubes, and an outlet. Here, it is possible to fill out the collecting and distributing tube in the form of a water box which has a separating wall. In doing so, however, it must be ensured that the separating wall sealingly divides the water box into an input-side partial region and an output-side partial region.
For this reason, in the prior art, separating walls are used which divide the water box into two partial spaces. This gives rise to the problem of joining the separating walls into the collecting box in the most cost-saving and yet sealing manner possible.
An aluminum water/air heat exchanger for motor vehicles is known from EP 0 656 517, in which a separating wall of a water box engages in grooves and/or slots in the tube plate, the engagement taking place with intersection of collars through which flat tubes are inserted. Here, the grooves have a rectangular shape and are delimited at all sides. The engagement of the separating wall or of its tongues ensures a relatively secure hold and relatively reliable sealing of the heat exchanger arrangement. During production, however, flux or solder can collect in the surrounded grooves, resulting in joining problems possibly arising during the production process.
The invention is therefore based on the object of reducing the outlay in the production of a heat exchanging apparatus.
It is also intended to provide a collecting box in which the input-side and output-side regions are reliably separated and sealed off from one another.